Toro 70089 Operator's Manual page 28

Operation
POTENTIAL HAZARD
Unexpected blade contact can occur
WHAT CAN HAPPEN
Personal injury can occur from contact
with blade
HOW TO AVOID THE HAZARD
Depress clutch and brake pedals, shift into
neutral and turn ignition key to "OFF"
position. Remove wire from spark plug to
prevent someone from accidentally starting
the machine.
When the rider is used to cut a lawn for the first
time, cut grass slightly longer than normal to
ensure that cutting height of mower housing will
not cause scalping, which could result from
severe undulations of the ground. In general,
however, the cutting height used in the past is
probably the best one to use. When cutting grass
over six inches tall, you may want to cut the
lawn twice to hide clippings down in the grass.
If the grass is ever allowed to grow slightly
longer than normal, or if it contains a high
degree of moisture, raise cutting height higher
than usual and cut the grass at this setting. Next,
cut the grass again using the lower, normal
setting. This method of cutting long grass results
in an even distribution of clippings and an
acceptable quality-of-cut.
In the heat of the summer, it is best to cut only
about 1/3 of the grass blade. Cutting below the
3rd setting is not recommended unless grass is
sparse or it is late fall when grass growth begins
to slow down.
If the cutting width of the rider is wider than the
mower previously used, raise height-of-cut
setting one notch to ensure undulations in turf
are not cut too short.
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MOWING IN EXTREME CONDITIONS—Air
is required to cut and recut grass clippings in
rider housing, so do not set height-of-cut too low
or totally surround housing by uncut grass.
Always try to have one side of the rider housing
free from uncut grass, allowing air to be drawn
into housing. When making an initial cut thru
center of uncut area, operate rider at a slower
ground speed and back up if rider starts to clog.
STOPPING RIDER—If forward motion of rider
has to be stopped while cutting, a clump of grass
clippings may be deposited on lawn. Follow this
procedure for stopping while cutting:
A. With blade engaged, move onto a
previously cut area.
B. Raise deck one or two height-of-cut settings
while driving rider forward and deck is in
operation.
C. Depress clutch and brake pedals, move
throttle control lever to IDLE position,
disengage mower and rotate ignition key to
OFF.
MOW AT PROPER INTERVALS—Under most
normal conditions you'll need to mow
approximately every 4–5 days. But remember,
grass grows at different rates at different times.
This means that in order to maintain the same
height-of-cut, which is a good practice, you'll
need to cut more frequently in early spring; as
the grass growth rate slows in mid summer, cut
only every 8–10 days. If you are unable to mow
for an extended period due to weather conditions
or other reasons, mow first with the height-of-cut
at a high level; then mow again 2–3 days later
with a lower height setting.
Alternate mowing direction. This helps disperse
clippings over lawn for even fertilization.
SIDE DISCHARGING OR BAGGING—To
side discharge or use bagging attachment, stop
the engine and wait for all moving parts to stop.